Hey everyone! After a one-week absence, I am back on the air for another great episode of The Gus Knorr Show. Tonight’s episode will also be a thematic procession of sorts, similar to the last two shows. On this week’s show, the theme will be British Invasion music from 1964-1966, by a litany of groups and singers, including The Beatles, of course.

• The first song tonight on The Gus Knorr Show is a song by Lonnie Donegan, a pioneer of skiffle music, the genre employed by The Quarrymen, the band that eventually became The Beatles. This song, released in 1955, was a top 10 single in America, called “Rock Island Line.”
• Next up is the first single by The Beatles, at least in America, though it didn’t chart until its re-release in 1964. From their first LP released in 1963 of the same name, it’s “Please Please Me.”
• Switching gears a little bit, the next song is a new one by Nathan Mathes, who performed at Spotlight MKE hosted by Marquette Radio two weeks ago, and was chosen to open for the WMUR Spring Concert. This song, from his new album Roselawn, is “Just As Long as I Got You.”
• The next song is a new one from, appropriately enough, a British band, and is by You Me at Six. From their new album Sinners Never Sleep, it’s “Loverboy.”
• Switching back to British Invasion music, the next song is the one that probably single-handedly launched Beatlemania in America, and in turn, the British Invasion. Released as a single in late 1963 but becoming a major hit the next year, this song is “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
• Next up is a song by The Rolling Stones, and was their first single, released in early 1964. It was their first top 10 single in their native England, and their first charting single in America, but only peaked at #48. This song, “Not Fade Away,” was actually a cover of an older Buddy Holly song.
• This is followed by a song by Dusty Springfield, and was also released in early 1964 as the first single in her solo career. While she would have more success later in America, it was a good start, peaking at #12. The song I am talking about, is, of course, “I Only Want to Be with You.”
• The Dave Clark Five performed the next song, and was their first major hit. Released in early 1964 in America, where it became a top-10 single, it’s “Glad All Over.”
• Next is a song by a lesser-known group, though it was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney before being offered to this duo, Peter and Gordon. The song, which became a #1 single in America, is “A World Without Love.”
• Another song from 1964 is next, by The Zombies, well-known for the 1968 psychedelic rock album Odessey and Oracle. This song, however, is “She’s Not There.”
• The Kinks, one of the pioneering and longest-running British Invasion groups, are next, with their first hit single from 1964, “You Really Got Me.”
• Some of these successful British Invasion bands made hits by covering other songs, and this is the case with the next song, by The Animals. This song, “The House of the Rising Sun,” was an old folk song covered by many artists before The Animals, including Bob Dylan, and was a #1 hit in both England and America.
• The next song was a #1 single in January 1965, and was the first one in America for this female singer, who had released many singles before in her native England. This song, however, made her a household name in America, and was later hilariously covered by outsider musician Mrs. Miller; it’s “Downtown.”
• The next song is the first charting single by The Who, one of the greatest bands to come out of the British Invasion. While it charted much higher in the U.K. than America, it was a sign of great things to come; it’s “I Can’t Explain.”
• Next is the best known song by Freddie and the Dreamers, and was the first of three consecutive songs by British bands to chart at #1 in America from April-May 1965. This was the first of the three songs, and was a #1 single for two weeks starting with the week of April 10, 1965, and the song is “I’m Telling You Now.”
• The second one of these songs was released by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, and is “The Game of Love.”
• The final one of these three songs was the first #1 single by Herman’s Hermits, and was a #1 single for the week of May 1, 1965. The song I’m talking about is “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter.”
• The next song was released a few months later in the summer of 1965, and was named the #2 greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. Probably the best known song by The Rolling Stones, and their first #1 single in America, this is “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
• The Wesley Willis Song of the Week is next, and speaks of Willis’ experiences at a Rolling Stones concert at Soldier Field in 1994. Appropriately enough, it’s called “The Rolling Stones.”
• Switching back to a song from the 1960’s, the next song is probably the best known released by The Who, and is “My Generation.”
• The second to last song on The Gus Knorr Show tonight was a hit single from 1966, and is arguably the best known song by The Troggs; it’s “Wild Thing.”
• The final song tonight is by a band, The Monkees, whose members were mostly American, with the exception of Englishman Davy Jones, who passed away on February 29, 2012. As a tribute to Jones, here is The Monkees’ only #1 single in which Jones sang lead vocals, and was released in 1967, it’s “Daydream Believer.”

That’s it for The Gus Knorr Show tonight, but be sure to tune in two weeks from tonight, on March 19, after Spring Break, for a new episode of The Gus Knorr Show, at 9:30 PM. Thanks for listening!